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Poster (c) Dimension
Scream is in the same category as The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They’ve been parodied so much it seems like the movie is just a parody of it. Scream is a parody, but an unfunny parody, of the teen slasher flicks of the 80’s, such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. In it, a masked killer runs around trying to kill a helpless teenager in a quiet, idyllic small town. Unlike, say, A Nightmare on Elm Street (which was cleverly referenced with “Fred the janitor”), Scream actually had some good scary parts to it, making it a great horror/slasher film, which it didn’t want to be.
Sidney (Neve Campbell)’s mother was raped and murdered a year ago. Her father is going out of town. A masked killer has already killed Casey (Drew Barrymore) and her boyfriend, and it looks like Sidney’s next! Nobody’s safe from the masked killer in the famous mask (based on Munch’s “Scream” painting), but it’s up to Sidney to figure out who he is and why he’s killing everyone. I’m not a huge gore fan (but I am a huge Gore fan, pardon the political “humor”), but I’m not squeamish, and I wanted Scream to have a little more gore, but I wasn’t complaining. Red was abound but not realistic (I’ll get to that later), but I’m happy that Wes Craven didn’t go for the PG-13 audience. This would not have worked as PG-13.
What makes Scream so scary is that it’s more realistic than other slashers. The killer kills in a realistic way (such as, not attacking in dreams), and the victims fight back, knocking out the killer. The killer is real, not some fictional being that exists in the head of the teenagers. The acting is very good for this type of movie, with the standout being Barrymore, who’s billed high but is only in a little bit of the movie. Also, I liked all of the horror movie references, and how it’s sort of a huge meta-reference. Overall, Scream is a screamingly good time that won’t disappoint.
Rated R for strong graphic horror violence and gore, and for language.
Review Date: August 7, 2003